Bill to keep foreign laws out of family court cases stalls in Senate

A
controversial bill that aims to keep foreign law from being used over
Florida law in family courts is “effectively dead,” Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, chairman of the Senate’s Rules Committee, said after that body's meeting Thursday.

Democrats blocked an effort by the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Alan Hays,
R-Umatilla, to get the House bill through in the Senate by a 25-14
vote. Hays needed a two-thirds vote, or 27 votes, to substitute the
House version (HB 351), which passed April 18 by a vote of 79-39.

Hays
said the bill aims to make sure that American law trumps foreign law in
cases related to marriage, divorce and child custody cases in
cases that violate state statutes or a person's constitutional rights.
Opponents say the measure is based on anti-Sharia legislation. With one
day left of the session, it's unlikely the bill can be salvaged this
session.